Wrestling falls to top-ranked Golden Gophers, beats TCNJ

LAKEWOOD — Shocking the crowd, sophomore Greg Parker of Princeton slipped out of Damion Hahn's grip and performed a two-point reversal on the Minnesota wrestling star — a former Lakewood, N.J. wrestling god.

Wrestling probably the best match of the night, Parker scared every member of the audience — all of whom had come to watch a hometown hero beat up on the Princeton wrestling team. Hahn, who graduated from Lakewood High School in 1999, is ranked No. 2 in the nation at the 184-lb. weight class, and is arguably the best wrestler in this state's history. But Parker, who normally wrestles at 174 lbs. gave Hahn one of his toughest matches of the year, finally losing, 12-8.

The Golden Gophers proved why they are the nation's No. 1-ranked program, beating the Tigers, 45-0. But Minnesota (5-0) did not embarrass Princeton (7-2) nearly as much as the overall score might indicate.

Beginning the meet with the 165-lb. weight class, head coach Mike New — in a bold but wise decision — chose freshman Milo Adams to wrestle Jacob Volkmann. Adams, who is a light 149-pound wrestler, jumped two weight classes for his match.

Moving up

Senior Ryan Bonfiglio, who is one of Princeton's best wrestlers, normally competes at 165 lbs.., but on this night, he wrestled at 174 lbs. against Minnesota senior Brad Pike — a two-time All-American. Pike, as coach New said, is the "kind of wrestler that Bonfiglio must beat if he is going to be a top national wrestler this year."

Bonfiglio was not overmatched in weight, since Pike normally wrestles at 165 lbs. as well. In a tough match, Bonfiglio fell short, losing 12-5. Not at his best, Bonfiglio made a few too many mistakes, and against a wrestler of Pike's ability, one mistake can spell doom.

While the 184-lb. match normally follows the 174-lb., organizers wanted to save Hahn for last, making him the highlight of the evening. Instead, the heavyweights took center stage. In one of his best matches of the year, senior Joe Rybacki wrestled against Minnesota sophomore Mike Flanagan. After being pinned quickly against The College of New Jersey on Friday night, Rybacki bounced back and almost defeated Flanagan, losing 7-2.

Overmatched freshman Brian Kirschbaum faced Minnesota junior Leroy Vega, the top 125-lb. wrestler in the country. Throwing Kirsch-baum in the first seconds of the match, Vega would have pinned the freshman, who was filling in for sick sophomore Seth Dunipace. But a blood timeout called in the first 15 seconds gave Kirschbaum a chance to escape Vega's grasp. This only prolonged the practically inevitable pin for another 90 seconds.

Not wrestling his best match of the year, junior Juan Venturi — who many people thought had a great chance of winning his 133-lb. match — was pinned by Brett Lawrence in 6 minutes, 41 seconds. Lawrence's younger brother, sophomore Jared Lawrence, won his 149-lb. match, pinning Princeton senior Jeffrey Bernd in 0:46.

In the closest match of the meet, sophomore Joe Clarke barely lost to Minnesota junior Chad Erikson, 19-18. In a rough 141-lb. match, the lead went back and forth between the two grapplers, with Erikson barely withstanding the relentless attack of Clarke.

Finishing the meet was the match between Parker and Hahn. The lights turned low as Parker stood in the middle of the ring waiting for his opponent. Suddenly George Thorogood's "Bad to the Bone" came blasting over the PA system, and Hahn sprinted onto the mat. Looking to pin Parker in the first minute, Hahn went for the kill as soon as the referee started the match. But Parker did not budge. Expecting this quick attack, Parker maneuvered out of Hahn's hold and than put Hahn face down on the mat. Completely surprised, Hahn quickly realized that he was facing one of the East Coast's top 184-lb. wrestlers.

Hahn eventually won the match, 12-9, but Parker appeared to have two takedowns in the last minute of the match which went undetected, leading to a controversial ending.

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While coach New was disappointed with the shutout, he was pleased with the quality of many of the matches.

"It just shows us that we need to work harder and get a lot better if we are going to compete with some of these guys on the national level," New said.

But the Tigers certainly had a successful weekend. Friday, they crushed The College of New Jersey, 26-14. Carried by Bonfiglio, Bernd, McLaughlin, Parker and Clarke, the Tigers avenged last year's embarrassing loss.